Fabio Rossi began his life in the spirits trade as a Oenologist (one who has studied winemaking). After his studies, Mr. Rossi left the wine business and started up a whisky company in Edinburgh (Wilson and Morgan) acting as an independent bottler of Single Malt Scotch Whisky. His interest turned to rum and in 1999, Fabio Rossi founded Rum Nation and a few years later Ron Millonario.
When I contacted Mr. Rossi about the Millonario rums, he was very accommodating about providing me with information about their production including photographs of the old Scottish column stills which are used by the distillery to distill the Millonario rum from sugar cane molasses (utilizing a slow distillation process). The distillery uses its own specially selected yeasts in the fermentation process, and utilizes their own coopers to construct the aging barrels from American and Slavonian oak.
Ron Millonario Solera 15 Reserva Especial in particular, is produced from a 4 stage Solera process with the final stage bringing the oldest rum in the blend to 15 years. (Based upon the information sent to me by the brand owner, the youngest rum in the blend would 8 years.)
Here is a link to the review of the #63 spirit in my Rum Howler Top 100 Spirits Countdown.
#63 – Ron Millonario Solera 15 Reserva Especial
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You may follow my Countdown list of the 100 Best Spirits here: The Rum Howler 2015 – Top 100 Spirits
In 2009, Single Barrel bottlings from 1998 began to appear in the Alberta marketplace. The particular 1998 vintage bottle that caught my attention was bottle number 413 which was set in oak on September 9, 1998, and bottled April 18, 2008.
The Collingwood 21 Year Old is a 100% malted rye whisky. It was aged in both new oak and refill oak barrels and after 21 years of aging the whisky was set down in a stainless steel marrying vat with staves of maple wood just like its younger sibling.
The Centenary Blend (now replaced by the younger Gold Label Reserve) was reputed to contain 15 separate single malt whiskies each aged a minimum of 18 years. Of these single malts four in particular have been noted as being key to the distinctive taste of Johnnie Walker Gold: Talisker generates the general character of the blend; Clynish generates the brine and seaside ambiance; Royal Lochnagar imparts the luxurious palate; and Cardhu lingers in the throat and provides the finish. I have read some claims that grain whiskies are in the blend as well, but whether that is true I have no confirmation. Grain Whiskies if present would certainly add vibrancy and character to the overall blend as well.
The Plantation Guatemala Gran Anejo is a Guatemalan rum blend which is produced from sugar cane syrup (rather than molasses) on a short column still. The rum is aged for a minimum of four years in bourbon casks in Guatemala after which it is transported from Guatemala to France to be placed in used Cognac casks for a finishing time of five months.
The Rum Howler Blog 